The 25th occurrence of Wonderfest took place during the weekend of Saturday, May 31st and Sunday, June 1st. (Actually, the proceeding Friday, May 30th can also be included here, since four Pre-show painting and sculpting classes were held then).

This was the tenth time I attended this W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L Modeling Event! As with most of the previous shows, this one also took
place at the Crowne Plaza Airport hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. With this being their 25th Anniversary, there was an extra buzz in the air going into the show.

(The more things change...)For me personally, this year's show found a couple new things taking place. Firstly, due to my job situation (which included two unused
personal days which had to be taken before June 1st, a BUNCH of unused sick-days  along with the perfect alignment of the stars, I guess), I ended up taking BOTH the Thursday and Friday before the show off from work, ALONG WITH the following Monday and Tuesday, (due to a sudden onset of "Wonderfest-bugg-itus" which I picked up while I was there). With this, my trips out there and back would be much more relaxing, enjoyable and less hectic than they usually tend to be.

A second "first" for me would be my skipping the Iron Modeler (I.M.) Contest, which takes place on the Saturday evening of the show. The I.M. Contest goes something like this: Groups composed of three or four members scratch-build a unique, oneofakind modeling
masterpiece by bashing together two "Mystery Parts" (supplied by contest sponsor StarshipModeler), with a selection of randomly supplied
additional model parts. The catch is only four hours are allocated for a COMPLETE build, (which includes painting).

Anyway, during this year I wasn't able to convince  (badger, cajole, or blackmail)  any of my previous I.M. teammates to join ranks
once again. (No worries, though. I was sure some other activity would rear up as a replacement).

Speaking of "some other activity", a third "first" for me at this show was my being given an opportunity to FINALLY judge in
the contest. (I had prior experience judging in model contests through the years in a couple, local IPMS modeling chapters). I guess my incessant badgering and nagging of contest chairperson John Davis and assistant Mark Cable finally paid dividends for me.

Another "first" for me  (if you will)  at this year's show was my determination to s-l-o-w down, "put my feet up" and smell the roses  (or maybe that should be "paint-n-glue fumes"?). Traditionally, I end up spending most of my time at the show in the contest room, taking pictures of each and every entry in the contest.

This year, however, I was determined to check out as many of the very informative, helpful "How-To" Modeling Demos as I could. In addition, I planned to take in as many of the various after-hours events as I could as well, (including those after-hours parties).

A much better camera I had purchased  (a Canon Rebel T3i, ONLY purchased two years prior)  along with my being given an
opportunity to take pics in the contest room "after-hours" on Saturday, (after I judged) helped out tremendously in this regard.

(...The more they stay the same)On the other hand, there were quite a few really nice, consistent things about this year's Wonderfest, which once again occurred. It was nice seeing and meeting some of my modeling buds (many of whom I originally befriended at this show, and only continue to meet here).

I was also sure that the quality of the entries in the model contest would once again be sky-high.

Also, in general it would be nice to just leave all of those routine tasks, chores and responsibilities at home (for an extended weekend), and do nothing but breath, drink, eat and sleep models, along with hanging out with others having similar tastes.